Problems w/ SD 1.5.2 + uninstall

[BrooklynEros]

Preface: I am soooo not computer savvy and need help explained to me in basic, layman terms....step by step.
I have the free Spybot S&D version 1.5.2 installed on my PC. Lately when I run Spybot it runs super-slow -- a scan is not even half complete after 12 hours. Also, my Internet Explorer has been crashing the past 2 weeks and every time I get an error message saying that SDhelper.dll was running at the time & am wondering if this Spybot file is the cause. I want to completely uninstall Spybot and reinstall (a newer versin of the free download?) but can't find the folder in windows on my computer with the SD backup which I think I need to manually remove. PLEASE help!!

[Greyfox]

BrooklynEros,

Very few "Windows" programs have all of their files kept in one folder, or even in one area, and most place entries in the Registry, so as a general rule you should not attempt to uninstall a program by manually deleting its folders.

In the case of Spybot, before uninstalling, you should first undo its immunisations. With your browsers closed, start Spybot, click on Immunise, then in the immunise screen click on "Undo".

I also recommend disabling both Teatimer and the resident Browser helper. To do this, start Spybot, click on Mode at the top of the screen, then click on Advanced Mode. Answer the next prompt with Yes, then click on Tools, then Resident. In the resident screen, untick the boxes for Teatimer and Resident SD helper.

I also recommend checking whether Spybot was locking the hosts file and/or the Internet Explorer settings. In Advanced mode, click on Tools then IE Tweaks. Remove any ticks present in the boxes.

If you have been deliberately using Spybot's System Startup option to manage your startup files (Tools/System Startup) you should perhaps restore the ticks to any item that has been unticked at this point

Exit Spybot, then uninstall either from the Uninstall option in the Spybot item in your programs menu, or from the entry in the Add and Remove programs.

You should then manually delete the folders detailed in

http://www.spybot.info/en/howto/uninstall.html

and also download and use the "this very small fix" from the link on that page.

Finally, once the uninstall has been completed, reboot your computer before installing any new version.

You have not given any details of your PC, what type and speed the CPU is, how much memory it has or what operating system you are using. I would recommend when you install a new version of Spybot that you look carefully at the options offered during the installation, and elect to start out by NOT having either Teatimer or SD helper installed initially, and also NOT getting the updates during the install. Once the install is complete, reboot, start Spybot. If it opens OK use the search for updates button on the main page to get the latest updates. Once you have these, do an immunisation and then do a full scan. When you are able to get a full scan with no red items present you can then optionally activate SDHelper and perhaps Teatimer, but if you are running XP and you have less than 512MB of on board memory, I personally would not recommend using Teatimer.

I hope that this is of some help